Three girls, none older than 13, have been charged with murder in the unsolved killing of a man with disabilities beaten to death last year in Washington, D.C., according to police.
A 13-year-old girl was arrested on Thursday and two more girls, one also 13 and the other 12, were arrested on Friday, the Metropolitan Police Department's Homicide Branch said.
The arrest of the 12-year-old came after she was shot in her home earlier on Friday, WRC-TV reported, citing a law enforcement source not identified by name.
The girls, who were not publicly identified by name, are charged with second-degree murder, police said.
The arrests come months after Reggie Brown, 64, was found severely injured just before 1 a.m. on Oct. 17, 2023.
He had trauma consistent with an assault and died at the scene. An autopsy deemed Brown's death a homicide by blunt force trauma.
The prosecutor told the judge that the girls did not know Brown before they allegedly stomped him to death., according to the Washington Post.
At a hearing on Friday, Det. Harry Singleton testified that the victim had a metal plate in his head and only two fingers on each hand.
A video played at the hearing reportedly showed the girls kicking and stomping Brown, and appearing to be in a "celebratory mood" as they walked away.
One detective called the footage "horrific," according to WRC-TV.
Singleton said that the fatal chain of events began when an unidentified man threw Brown to the ground, and the man and girls started following him.
"My uncle really didn't deserve this," a niece of Brown's said in a statement to WRC-TV. "He was known in this community for years so for this to happen where he lived for 64 [years] is insane. They have to be held accountable!"
Police say the case remains under investigation.
